Publish proposals for equal tax treatment of compensation payments
Post Office Horizon Inquiry · First Interim Report: Compensation · Issued 17 July 2023 · Addressed to: Department for Business and Trade
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
DBT shall publish within 28 days of the publication of this report its proposals for ensuring that applicants to all schemes are treated equally and fairly in respect of liability to Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, and Inheritance Tax on compensation payments.
Post Office Horizon Inquiry, First Interim Report: Compensation · 17 Jul 2023 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The Post Office Horizon Compensation and Infected Blood Interim Compensation Payment Schemes (Tax Exemptions and Relief) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/184) provided the statutory basis for tax exemptions (SI 2023/184, 2023).
- The Post Office Horizon Shortfall Scheme and Group Litigation Order Compensation Payments (Inheritance Tax Relief) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1009) provided Inheritance Tax relief for compensation payments (SI 2023/1009, 2023).
Response — verbatim from government
●Department for Business and Trade
Department for Business and Trade accepts this recommendation. Payments under the GLO scheme and overturned convictions are exempt from Income Tax, National Insurance contributions, and Capital Gains Tax. HSS claimants receive top-up payments that are similarly exempt from tax. All schemes are exempt from Inheritance Tax.
Department for Business and Trade · 21 Sep 2023 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 31 Jan 2026 Verification: Interim report recommendations largely implemented through Post Office (Horizon System) Compensation Act 2024 and scheme operational changes. HSS closing date set as 31 January 2026. Sir Gary Hickinbottom appointed to oversee scheme fairness. Source →
- 21 Sep 2023 · Department for Business and Trade Government response: Accepted. Department for Business and Trade accepts this recommendation. Payments under the GLO scheme and overturned convictions are exempt from Income Tax, National Insurance contributions, and Capital Gains ... Source →
- 1 Jan 2026 · Horizon Compensation Advisory Board Compensation payments under the GLO scheme and for quashed convictions were exempted from Income Tax, National Insurance and Capital Gains Tax, fulfilling the requirement in this recommendation. View source → Confirmed Completed
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.